


The Truth in Her Kiss

by TKelParis



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-01
Updated: 2012-09-01
Packaged: 2019-10-06 23:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17354405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TKelParis/pseuds/TKelParis
Summary: A Time Lord can tell a lot about a person through close contact. What did he sense from the big shock Donna gave him?





	The Truth in Her Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Just one of the many implications that my Doctor/Donna shipper self had to explore. :D

**Title** : The Truth in Her Kiss  
**Rating** : T  
**Author** : [](https://tkel-paris.livejournal.com/profile)[**tkel_paris**](https://tkel-paris.livejournal.com/)  
**Summary** : A Time Lord can tell a lot about a person through close contact. What did he sense from the big shock Donna gave him?  
**Disclaimer** : That this wasn't the follow-up on that moment proves I own nothing.  
**Dedication** : [](https://tardis-mole.livejournal.com/profile)[**tardis_mole**](https://tardis-mole.livejournal.com/). How many of these Story-a-Day prompts came from talking with you? ;)  
**Author's Note** : Just one of the many implications that my Doctor/Donna shipper self had to explore. :D  
  
Polished and posted in honor of [](https://ellyfanfic.livejournal.com/profile)[**ellyfanfic**](https://ellyfanfic.livejournal.com/)'s birthday. Had to quickly pick something and rush it through a polishing check – too many WIPs I'm working on right now.

 

 

 

**The Truth in Her Kiss**

**Started May 4, 2012**  
**Finished September 1, 2012**

The Doctor grinned, delighting in Donna's joy over watching the TARDIS's engines pump and whine their way from Harrogate, where they had just left Agatha Christie. One day, he figured, they'd go and visit her near the end of her life, to let her have the chance to remember. Well, more than she already did without knowing it.

What a day! They'd solved a big mystery regarding the author! Not that they could tell anyone. At least not yet. But still! He'd helped solve a murder and save the life of the best-selling novelist of all time. Those weren't common occurrences by any means for him! It was a good day, even with the three murders and the killing of the Vespiform.

Oh. And his near-death.

He blinked, freezing at the Controls. The details that had escaped his attention from that moment suddenly flooded his mind. His subconscious mind had soaked them in, though, which was why he could remember now. Although who could blame him for not noticing a lot of things when he was focusing all his energy on stimulating the enzymes into reversal?

But this one explained one thing he'd blurted out. His face couldn't decide whether to flush or turn pale.

“What's wrong?” asked Donna.

She'd noticed his unease. She always did. Blimey! “Um...oh, this could get me slapped.” She didn't like intrusions into her mind, he could tell. This might be very awkward indeed.

“What would? I won't know if you deserve a slap unless you tell me, and I think you need to get it out off your chest. So ignore what I might do, and I'll remember that you're an alien bloke.”

It was one thing to hear her say that. Quite another to actually test her patience. Yet what else could he do? “You know how I'm telepathic?”

She blinked. “Yeah, I remember the Ood, and how you opened my mind to hear their Song of Captivity. Those poor beings. But what does telepathy have to do with anything?”

He cleared his throat and rubbed his neck. “My people are what's called touch telepathic. Although we can communicate with others without touching, and can sense a lot without ever touching, we can only hear another's thoughts and sense their feelings while in physical contact.”

“So?”

Okay, she didn't see it yet. He swallowed, managing to look right at her. “Any kind of contact. And when the other's emotions are powerful, they broadcast their thoughts much more readily.”

She was silent, clearly absorbing that, for a long moment. Then her mouth opened wide and her face turned almost as bright as her hair.

He took a deep breath. Better go all the way. “So when you gave me a shock, there were a lot of things I sensed – even though I was too distracted to be consciously aware of them. Now I remember clearly.”

She dropped her gaze, shame on her face.

Oh, he couldn't let her feel worse about herself. He quietly, gently asked, “Donna, how long have you been in love with me?”

She was wringing her hands, looking ready to jump ship and run. Not that she had a lot of options while they were in flight.

“Oh, um...since...the day we met.”

His eyes felt like they were each wider than the London Eye.

“I know! It scared me so much that I had to say no. You'd just lost the person you loved. What would that make me? Nothing more than the rebound woman.”

His jaw dropped.

“I mean, after Egypt, I knew I'd made a mistake. I should've just been your friend from the start and learned to live with hiding my feelings. After all, if the only guy I could get to the church only intended to use me, then marriage obviously isn't for me.”

His hearts sank over the depth of her self-doubts. He once again cursed Sylvia for encouraging this in her only child, and wondered if he could unleash the Oncoming Storm because she helped cause Donna's low self-esteem.

“So this doesn't have to mean anything. Please,” she suddenly begged, wide-eyed, “don't make me go home! I'm nothing there! Here I can be something, do important things! And you do need a friend to stop you.”

“Donna,” he said, wanting her to stop her protests so he could get a word in edgewise. Usually, it was the other way around with them.

“You won't ever hear another word about it,” she promised, plainly not having heard him or misinterpreting his tone. “I can be quiet about such things.”

“Donna,” he insisted, stepping closer as his next act became clear. He had to admit to a lot of things he'd intended to keep to himself if he was going to prove that she was worrying needlessly.

“I can help you try to find-”

“Donna!”

She finally stopped, realizing she'd backed against a railing. She made a move to go to the side, but he grabbed her shoulders. “Doctor, please-”

“I'd never ask you to leave,” he swore. “I don't want you to ever leave me. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.”

She blinked rapidly. “What about your...your late family?”

His eyes closed briefly, overcome by emotion. “They were all distant from me. Except for one granddaughter. She traveled with me. But they're all gone now. Even her. The Time Lords found her and dragged her and her children into the war.”

Donna closed her eyes, as if hurting for him. “I'm so sorry.”

He swallowed. “So am I.”

“That makes me even less worthy-”

“Stop,” he begged. “Don't think you're less than I am. You're better.”

Her eyes opened, looking into his. She shook her head, as if not believing what she saw.

Sighing, he brought forward the words that he never thought he'd let himself say. What other choice did he have? She would leave if he couldn't convince her. “I tried to just think of you as my best friend, but you're more than that. You've seen me, really seen who I am, and you see something worth supporting despite all the bad traits and habits and mistakes and misjudgments. And I _know_ I've given you plenty of reasons to be mad at me. If you can look at the awful things I've done and not only still see me as your friend but also love me, then _maybe_ the universe doesn't hate me as much as I thought. Because your feelings are completely requited.”

Donna couldn't look away. “But... but what about Rose?”

His eyes grew sadder. Yet another of his mistakes. “I lost a friend on a day filled with death. Someone I considered a friend, but she was more like a child in my hearts. She reminded me that I could still live and enjoy life. But she couldn't stop me from going too far, couldn't make me think about what I did, and didn't make me want to be a better person. She wanted me to be a human man who could travel through space and time. You wouldn't ask me to not be me. Just the best version of that me possible, and that – more than anything else, I think – is why I love you.”

Now she couldn't make her voice work. Her eyes still screamed disbelief.

There was only one thing for it, then. He cupped her face and kissed her with all the tenderness and love that one could express through that way. It was the furthest cry from the shock she planted on him, but he hoped that just as he had sensed the truth in her kiss, she would feel the truth in his.

And if the way she slowly threaded her fingers into his hair was any indication, she was. She knew he was no emotional liar. If he spoke with emotion, then it was what he really felt.

And he hoped he could soon receive her consent for everything he could possibly give her. For once, he had something bright shining in his life. He had all but given up on that chance.

**THE END**  
  



End file.
